Treaties of
Locarno, a series of seven international agreements drawn up at
Locarno, Switzerland, and signed in London in 1925. The treaties were
designed to preserve the existing French-German and Belgian-German
borders, and to foster international cooperation to avoid war.
Austen Chamberlain of Great Britain, Aristide Briand of France, and
Gustav Stresemann of Germany began negotiations in the summer of 1925
in an effort to reduce tensions in Europe arising from the Treaty of
Versailles (1919). Talks continued through the autumn, and the
treaties were signed in December.
The most important treaty was the Rhineland Security Compact, which
provided for maintaining a demilitarized zone in the Rhineland section
of Germany. Under this compact, Germany and France, and Germany and
Belgium, agreed not to “attack or invade each other or resort to war
against each other,” but supplementary clauses justified the use of
force in self-defense.
Britain and Italy pledged their aid to the victim in the event of a
frontier violation. This clause was particularly welcomed by the
French, since it meant the other countries would be obliged to come to
France's assistance should Germany invade France.
The remaining six Locarno treaties pledged the participating nations
to the peaceful settlement of international disputes and set up rules
by which the arbitration of disputes was to be carried out. Germany
agreed to respect these rules with regard to France, Belgium, Poland,
and Czechoslovakia. France agreed to come to the aid of Poland and
Czechoslovakia should Germany violate its pledges to these nations.
It was hoped that the conference would be an important step toward
permanent peace in Europe. However, Germany sought to remilitarize the
Rhineland after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. In 1936 Hitler
sent German forces into the Rhineland and denounced the Locarno
treaties. Britain and France lodged formal protests against Germany's
action, but they did nothing to counter it.
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